Karmanami
by Nellie Bachesneg
Summary: It's cute, it's fluffy, it's Karmanami! Yes I know I am so, so very late to this particular party, but I needed to get this out of my system so here it is. Karma and Okuda went to the same high school after Kunugigaoka, and their friendship slowly grows into something more. Also contains Nagikae. BTW I don't usually write romance, so... don't like, don't read. T 4 language 'n kiss


_**AN:**_

First off, if you actually know who I am, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY DO NOT READ THIS FIC! I don't think I could handle the embarrassment.

Second, I just want to say that I can't believe I'm doing this myself but I have to get it out of my system.

So yeah, this a very hastily written Assassination Classroom one-shot of Akabane Karma and Okuda Manami – in other words, this is my drabble on the ship known as Karmanami.

Yes I know I'm **so freaking late** to the party, but you know what? Screw it. I write what I want.

For reference: this takes place in their high school years, after junior high. Meaning Korosensei is dead (*cries*) and they're all moving on with their lives.

Disclaimer: I do not own Assassination Classroom. Also, this is my first time (and possibly only time) writing any kind of romance, and keep in mind that I have never been kissed nor ever confessed my love for someone. So if something seems unrealistic... blame the internet.

Also anyone who finds the reference I made to a different anime gets a cookie.

Now, without any further ado... this mess.

* * *

Call it fate or destiny or whatever, but many of the students of class 3-E ended up going to the same high school. Everyone, of course, stayed in contact with one another, but as they all grew older they found their friend dynamic changing – as unfortunately tends to happen.

Long story short, hands were held, confessions were made, and lips were locked. Soon, 3-E students were hooking up left and right – but it took some longer than others to finally get the ball rolling.

* * *

Akabane Karma and Okuda Manami stood shoulder to shoulder, peering over a chemistry book. It was hardly the first time they had met in the high school's chemistry lab after hours; in junior high, they had stayed late more than once to either discuss potential assassination plots or stock up on supplies for Karma's pranks. Since they had ended up going to the same high school, they had kept up the routine. It was… comforting, in a way. People outside of class 3-E didn't quite understand it, but most just assumed that they had their reasons.

No one was exactly sure about the nature of Karma and Okuda's relationship, but at the very least it was clear that Karma was appreciative of the girl's skills. Rumor had it that he had even asked her for help studying a few times. If asked about her, he would say that he enjoyed her company. He found her surprisingly easy to talk to.

Okuda liked hanging out with Karma, though many people – even in class 3-E – had a hard time understanding why. They thought Karma was scary to say the least, even without knowing about the assassination part of their junior high classroom. But Okuda knew that while he put up a threatening front, inside Karma was just the same as everyone else. Or, well, mostly the same. And, in all honesty, she found his pranks amusing, especially when she helped with them.

Together they made a fearsome pair – the 'red demon and the poison witch', as they came to be known. Neither one particularly minded the nicknames; they were having fun regardless, as well as exercising their bloodlust. But even if the chemicals they made were used for vicious purposes, they took the chemistry itself seriously.

At least, most of the time.

"So what exactly am I looking at, Poison Witch?" asked Karma teasingly. "It's some sort of acid, I know, but what is it _exactly_ that you're brewing?"

Okuda rolled her eyes and smiled. "Really, Karma-kun? After all this time, you still have trouble identifying chemicals?"

"Blame it on the teacher," he responded cheekily.

"I hope you're referring to Okabe-sensei," said the girl as she began setting up equipment.

" _Well_ …"

She sighed and shook her head. "No wonder they call you a devil. You know, the least you could do is help me set up instead of complaining about my tutoring."

Karma fake-pouted but did as he was told.

"All right, but seriously – what are we making?"

Okuda smiled darkly for a moment, the light glinting off her glasses ominously.

"We're going to see just how many poisonous gases we can make from nitric acid," she replied. Karma grinned evilly.

" _Fun_ ~" he said.

"It should be. Behave yourself and I might even let you use a few."

Karma laughed.

This teasing was something that had developed over time. As little as a year ago, Okuda would rarely have talked to anyone like this, and in fact outside of the lab she still didn't. Amongst the beakers and Bunsen burners, however, she was in her element. She was confident – assertive even – and as her friendship with Karma grew she felt more and more comfortable expressing herself around him.

If he took the time to think about it, Karma would say that he was proud of her. There weren't many people that could get away with teasing him, after all. And even if she was shy outside of the lab, he enjoyed seeing this side of her.

Okuda, for her part, wasn't sure why she had loosened up so much around Karma. She assumed it was because they mostly hung out in the lab, the place where she was most comfortable. Nevertheless, she was grateful to Karma for always listening to her – even if he only did it for cyanide at first.

They continued talking as they began their experiments. Their conversation topics ranged from family to favorite colors, political views to preferred food. Occasionally Okuda would interrupt with a "Don't touch that!" or "Put that beaker here," but all in all it was business as usual.

At least, until out of the corner of her eye she spied Karma looking at the lab manual, oblivious to the open vial in his hand that was tipping dangerously toward a Bunsen burner.

Okuda's eyes widened. "Karma!"

He turned toward her, but the damage had already been done. The solution in the vial had begun to bubble, releasing an explosive gas. Without thinking, Okuda tackled Karma to the ground – just as the gas ignited with a _boom_ that made the glassware rattle.

Heart pounding from adrenaline, Okuda sat up turned toward the table. From her vantage point, it seemed like nothing was on fire or broken. Breathing a sigh of relief, she looked down at Karma.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

He blinked up at her, shaken from his close call. "Yeah… Sorry, I guess I just wasn't paying attention."

Really, he didn't know what got into him. One moment he was double checking the instructions that Okuda had put together, the next the girl herself had pinned him on the floor while flames ignited the space his head had just occupied.

 _That…She might have saved my life_ , he realized suddenly, looking up at the girl with newfound admiration.

It was just then that he noticed their close proximity, as well as the fact that she had effectively straddled him in a less than chaste position.

 _Ba-dump._

"Uh…" He suddenly felt heat rising to his cheeks.

 _What? No! Bad Karma! Don't make this awkward!_

Okuda looked down at him, confusion evident behind her glasses.

"Eh? Is something wrong, Karma-kun? Do you need to go to the nurse's office?" Suddenly worried, she leaned over and began examining his face for burns.

 _Ba-dump._

Karma found himself tongue-tied as Okuda loomed over him, pinning him to the floor and running her fingers over his face. His brain seemed to have lost all capability of rational thought.

"Hmm… well, you don't have any burns – honestly, it's a small miracle – but you do seem a little warm," the girl commented, leaning away from him. "Your face is red, too."

 _Ba-dump._

"I think you should go to the nurse," she declared, finally standing up. She offered a hand to Karma.

"Y-yeah," he agreed as he stood. "I'm feeling a little… dizzy."

"Oh no, did you bump your head when I tackled you?" asked Okuda, eyes widening. "I'm so sorry!"

"Uh… it's fine…"

"You should go home and get some rest! Don't worry, I'll finish up here. Tomorrow you'll have all the poison you want!" She flashed him a small smile before a guilty expression took over her face.

"O-ok…" Karma left the lab dazed, trying to process what in the world just happened.

* * *

Something was different.

Karma couldn't quite put his finger on it yet, but something was definitely different about…

Something.

It was a week after the incident, and though Karma had tried to forget about it as best he could, whenever he saw Okuda he had to fight the blush that immediately threatened to grace his features.

That wasn't what was bothering him, though – or at least, that wasn't all of it. He could handle a bit of acting until his embarrassment went away (or so he hoped). No, what was _really_ bothering him was that he felt like something had changed – something important – but no one else seemed to realize it.

He tried talking to Okuda about it, but she only asked if he hit his head again.

 _That_ question forced him to turn away quickly in order to hide his tomato-red face.

The something continued to bother him for days. For some reason it especially bugged him when he was in the lab with Okuda. It got to the point where the girl had to repeat his name to get him to pay attention.

"…ma-kun. Karma-kun. KARMA-KUN!"

The boy in question blinked back into reality. "Huh?"

Okuda sighed and put down the beaker she had been holding out to him. "Are you ok, Karma-kun?" she asked, concerned.

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?" he lied. In reality the something nagging at him more than ever before.

"I don't know, you just seem… distracted, lately."

Karma smirked. That was an understatement. "Sorry, Okuda-san. I'll try to pay closer attention."

There was that something again.

"Ok… I'm here if you need to talk, ok Karma-kun?"

And again. What _was_ it?

He focused back on the girl in front of him.

"I know, Okuda-san…"

Ugh, _again!_

He couldn't take much more of this. It was going to drive him insane. He forced himself to breathe and focus back on the experiment, pushing the something to the back of his mind.

Less than an hour later, the answer hit him out of the blue. He stopped what he was doing, blinking in surprise.

"Hey Okuda-san?" His mouth seemed to move of its own accord.

"Hm?"

"Would you mind if I called you by your first name?"

Okuda suddenly stopped what she was doing and looked at the redhead curiously.

"Um… Why?"

Karma shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well, it's just that we've know each other for so long that it kinda feels weird to be so formal, you know?" It was a half-truth, but Karma didn't really know what else to say.

Okuda considered that for a moment. "Huh, I guess you're right."

Karma smirked. "So I can call you Manami, then?"

The girl paused. She had to admit it sounded weird coming from Karma, though it certainly wasn't unpleasant. She smiled. "It'll take some getting used to, but sure."

Karma blinked. He had expected that she would at least insist on an honorific.

 _You're full of surprises Manami…_ he thought to himself.

 _Ba-dump._

"So… does that mean I can call you Karma? No more Karma-kun?" the girl asked tentatively.

 _Ba-dump ba-dump._

Karma wasn't quite sure what was happening to him; all he knew was that it was becoming difficult to keep the red off of his face. By some divine miracle, he managed a casual smirk. "I guess that's only fair, Manami," he said, testing out the name on his tongue. He found that he liked it.

 _Ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump._

"Thanks, Karma." The redhead discovered that he liked the sound of that – a lot.

 _Ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump._

 _OK SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE HELL?!_ He screamed internally.

* * *

It took Karma another week to get up the nerve to call Nagisa. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to his friend… he just didn't want to talk about _that_.

…Which was exactly why he had to call him.

Eventually, Karma got fed up with his own emotions and just called, punching the numbers on his cell harder than was strictly necessary.

 _Click._

"Hey Karma! What's –"

"Nagisa, I'm going insane."

"Um…" There was a long pause. "Care to elaborate?"

"I'M GOING INSANE, DUDE! I CAN'T THINK STRAIGHT! EVERY TIME I CLOSE MY EYES, I SEE _HER_ , AND IT'S GETTING. _DAMN_. _**ANNOYING**_." He took a deep breath. "Not to mention, every time I step in that lab my stomach feels funny – like, _I want to puke_ funny, but not in a bad way? And if she starts teasing me it's like my face wants to light itself on fire, and…"

He suddenly became aware of a sound coming from the phone.

"…Nagisa, are you _laughing at me_?!"

It took a few minutes for the bluenette to calm down. "This really isn't a conversation we should be having over the phone," he finally said.

"And why, in the name of assassination, is that?" growled Karma.

"Dude, just get over here. I promise Kayano and I will explain everything."

Karma sighed. "Fine. I'll get there as soon as I… wait, why is your girlfriend coming?"

* * *

Everything finally made sense.

The only problem was that now Karma had to live with it.

That meant he still had to act like everything was normal: he had to fight blushes, remember not to get tongue-tied, stop himself from talking about her to anyone who would listen, and pull enough pranks to almost get him expelled.

Well, maybe that last one wasn't so hard.

For once it helped that he already had a reputation for being slightly insane: it meant that he could randomly grin and people would think it no weirder than usual.

Of course, despite his efforts, Manami noticed his slight shift in behavior. She would ask if he was ok when he turned away to hide his red face, and she had to repeat his name over and over when he found himself at a loss for words.

Not that he particularly minded that last bit.

Manami, for her part, was at first confused. After a couple weeks of this went by, however, she started to get frustrated. For all she knew, something was upsetting Karma, and he wouldn't talk to her about it. She tried calling Kayano, hoping that she and Nagisa could lend some insight, but all the green-haired girl said was, "Don't worry about it." Eventually Manami decided that she would have to force Karma to tell her somehow.

Meanwhile, Karma had been calling Nagisa more and more frequently to talk about Manami – or rather, to affirm that what he was feeling was normal. The bluenette, however, had his limit of patience. After the third hour-long call in three days, Nagisa was fed up.

"Karma, I appreciate that you place such high value on my knowledge of girls, but _you need to stop calling me about her_."

"Aw, Nagisa, am I making you uncomfortable?~"

" _YES!_ "

Karma sighed. In actuality he had seen this coming. "Fine. Just answer me this: do I keep acting, or do I confess?"

Nagisa paused. "Why are you acting?" he asked after a moment.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked the red devil.

"I mean, you keep telling me that you're at a loss for words around her, especially when she's teasing, but that doesn't seem like the Karma I know. It's no wonder she's starting to ask questions. I get that you're trying to hide your embarrassment, but… you shouldn't have to be embarrassed. Why don't you try teasing back?"

Karma almost said, "I don't know what I would end up doing."

Almost.

His pride, thankfully, stopped him.

He was Karma Akabane: the red devil, the embodiment of mischief and fear itself, and a student of class 3-E. If he couldn't tease his crush without embarrassing himself, then he didn't have the right to call himself an assassin.

* * *

Another week passed, and it seemed to Manami that things had almost gone back to normal. She and Karma were once again engaging in their playful banter, something that Manami hadn't even realized she had missed.

However, she could tell that there was still something wrong with Karma.

And she was determined to find out what it was.

Her final plan was a bit too underhanded for her liking, but she could see no other way of finding out the truth when everyone kept avoiding her questions. At some point it crossed her mind that she could leave well enough alone, but she dismissed the thought, reminding herself that as Karma's friend she was partially responsible for making him happy – and she couldn't do that without first finding out what the problem was.

So one afternoon, as they entered the lab, Manami discretely made sure to lock the door behind her.

Because Karma was using all of his willpower _not_ to focus on Manami, he didn't notice.

He did take pause, however, when the girl asked if she could give him a shot.

"What?" he asked, wondering if he had misheard.

"A shot," repeated Manami, trying to hide her nervousness. She pulled a small doctor's needle out of a drawer.

"Why?" asked Karma, slightly suspicious.

"I need to test this drug," she half-lied. "Don't worry, it's perfectly safe." She had actually bought it from a drugstore just to be sure, not trusting herself to get the complicated formula right.

"What is it?" asked Karma warily, leaning back on instinct as Manami walked toward him.

"If it works, you'll find out." She looked up at him. "Please?"

Karma paused. He wasn't sure why he was nervous – this was _Manami_ , after all. Despite her being a 'poison witch', she would never hurt a friend on purpose.

" _Please?_ " the girl asked again, putting on her best puppy-dog eyes.

Karma never had a chance.

Sighing, he held out his arm.

Manami injected the truth serum, then waited.

They stood there for a moment, looking at each other without saying anything.

 _I could get used to this_ , thought Karma as his mercury eyes looked into lavender ones, and for once his conscience seemed to agree.

What he didn't know was that the drug was already working; he had spoken his thought aloud.

"Get used to what?" asked Manami.

"Looking at you," said Karma with a smirk. The truth serum might have drastically lowered his inhibitions, but his attitude was perfectly intact.

Manami bit her lip. She was sure he was under the effects of the drug – his posture was more relaxed than she'd ever seen it. Still, she didn't know what to make of his answer. She decided to try a different angle.

"Karma, answer with a yes or a no. Are you ok?" she asked in full seriousness.

He thought about his answer for a moment, then: "Right now, yes."

Manami fought back a frustrated sigh. "What about last week?" she asked. "Were you ok last week?"

"Oh, no," the redhead answered flippantly.

"Why?" asked the girl, finally feeling like she was getting somewhere.

"Because I didn't know."

"Didn't know what?" asked the girl, stepping forward in excitement despite herself. She was surprised when he did the same.

"I didn't know how I should act around you," he replied softly, leaning toward her. Suddenly he stopped. His brow furrowed, as if he had just realized what he was doing.

 _Uh oh, it's already wearing off_ , thought Manami, unmindful of Karma's sudden close proximity. She leaned even closer, so that their foreheads were almost touching, willing him to stay focused on her.

"Why didn't you know how to act around me?" she asked quickly.

"Because… I…" Karma's eyes widened as he realized how close they were, and this time he had no defense against the blush that graced his cheeks. "Um…"

 _Damn!_ Both teens thought it at the same time – albeit for very different reasons. "Manami…" Karma said slowly, struggling to get his thoughts in order, "What was in that drug?"

The girls sighed as she stepped away from him. Karma had to stop himself from pulling her back.

"It was a truth serum," she admitted, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Karma, but you wouldn't tell me what was wrong and nobody else would say anything and I didn't know how… to… Karma?"

The redhead had gone white as he realized what he had almost said.

While under a truth serum.

To Manami.

 _Ba-dump._

"…ma? Karma! Snap out of it!"

He blinked. Manami was standing right in front of him, a look of concern on her face.

"Karma, I don't know what's bothering you, but you can _tell me!_ I'm here for you!"

 _Ba-dump._

"Please, I can't stand not knowing! Just –"

Karma cut her off by hugging her, if only because it prevented him from flat-out kissing her.

"You're cute when you're worried, you know that?" he said teasingly. The drug, it seemed, had only _mostly_ worn off.

Manami, however, was having none of it. She pushed him away, anger behind her glasses. "This is no time for jokes, Karma!"

"But I wasn't joking!" he retorted, caught off guard.

…

It took about three seconds for each of them to process what he had said.

Manami's eyes widened. "Wait…"

 _SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT_ … Karma want to confess eventually, sure, but not like _this!_ He knew the question she was about to ask; he just had to find an answer that made sure she didn't connect _all_ of the dots.

"You think I'm cute?"

Something in her voice caused Karma to pause in his chaotic thinking. She looked at him with a strange expression.

The words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them. "Of course I think you're cute." Hastily, he added, "Who wouldn't?"

"Oh, um…" she ducked her head away. Karma had done that motion enough times in the last few weeks to know what it meant.

"Are you… blushing?" he asked, unable to keep the smirk from his face.

"S-shut up!" said Manami. "No one's ever really… called me cute before, ok?" She turned back to face him, as red as his hair.

Karma's heart did a summersault. "Well, I think it's about time someone started, Manami," he said, smirking.

The girl glared at him. "Only if I can call you handsome, Karma," she retorted.

Karma froze. Manami looked at him in wonder, then giggled.

"Look who's blushing now~" she teased.

The redhead blinked in surprise. He had thought that blushing would be a dead giveaway to his true feelings.

 _Apparently not_.

He grinned. His biggest source of embarrassment had just disappeared, and he had just figured out how to make his crush blush.

It was time to have some _fun_.

* * *

Another week passed by, and their casual banter had almost completely turned into flirting.

Not that Manami was aware of that, of course. All she knew was that their teasing had turned into a game of "Who'll Blush First?" And, despite its embarrassing nature, she liked it.

She liked it when Karma called her pretty, cute, talented, special… all sorts of wonderful things. She also found out that she liked complimenting Karma that way, too. They toned it down in public, of course, but in the lab all bets were off. They weren't even afraid to get close to each other – though not too close. Both were keenly aware of an invisible line that had yet to be crossed.

And then Karma tried to cross that line.

They had finished their experiments for the afternoon, but neither wanted to leave just yet. They got to talking, then bantering, then flirting – the usual.

"Red's a good color on you," said Karma, casually leaning against a table. "I think you should wear it more often."

"I'd say the same for you, but you look so good already it wouldn't make much of a difference," replied Manami, sitting on a table facing him. Karma smirked, then stood up and began walking toward her.

"Ah, but you see, just when I think you're perfect you just find some way of becoming more beautiful. It's rather annoying actually."

"Are you trying to get me heated?" she asked as he approached. "B-because you're so hot you could do that just by standing next to me."

His eyes widened at that. Manami almost blushed herself, but was determined not to lose this little game of theirs. She did, however, lean back a little as Karma put his hand on either side of her on the table, effectively trapping her.

"You," he said softly, "are like a star. You shine, you give light to my life, and…" he grinned his signature smile. "You are pretty damn hot yourself."

That almost got her; he could see it in her eyes. However, she kept her nerve.

"N-not even the stars could compare to you," she whispered. Karma was close – _very_ close.

"I'm actually glad you're _not_ a star," said Karma, smile still on his face. He knew he was winning. "Because if you were, I couldn't kiss you."

 _Ba-dump._

Manami's heart thudded against her ribcage.

She almost wanted to scream. This wasn't just close to the line – this was _on_ the line. For a moment, as he leaned in even closer so that their foreheads were all but touching, she thought he might actually do it.

A split second later, she discovered that she wasn't completely opposed to the idea.

 _Ba-dump._

… _WHAT IN THE NAME OF ASSASSINATION!?_ Her head practically screamed as she felt heat rise up to her cheeks. She closed her eyes in embarrassment.

Karma noticed the blush and pulled away, even though a large part of him was sorely tempted not to. He smirked at the tomato-faced girl.

"Gotcha," he said cockily.

"Y-you… uh… y-you…" Manami stammered, trying to calm the storm inside her head. She snuck a glance at the boy and, if possible, turned even redder.

Karma tilted his head to the side, intrigued. He had never seen her so flustered – and that was saying something.

 _Did I do something wrong?_ He wondered.

"Hey, Manami, are you all right?" he asked, carefully keeping his distance.

"I-I, um, y-yes, just, uh… BATHROOM!" the girl suddenly shouted, then proceeded to run out of the room at top speed.

Karma was left to contemplate what exactly he had done.

Once safe inside the ladies restroom, Manami immediately pulled out her phone and dialed Kayano's number.

 _Click._

"Hi Manami! How-"

"HELP! FEELINGS! KARMA! GAME! KISS!"

Silence.

Manami took a deep breath.

"I-I'm sorry, Kayano-chan, I just… _please help!_ "

"…Why don't you come over to my house?" suggested the actress.

Manami shook her head. "C-can't. Karma's… s-still in the lab. Everything's put away, b-but I'd still have to face him to say goodbye…"

"Okuda-san, listen to me. As quickly as you can, you are going to say goodbye to Karma and come over to my house. Ok?" her voice was firm but gentle.

"O-ok…"

"Good. I'll see you soon."

* * *

Kayano didn't tell her everything; it simply wasn't her place.

That said, she did help Manami understand her own feelings a little bit better, which left the black-haired girl with one question: _What now?_

She knew she was attracted to Karma – not only to his looks, but to _him_. It wasn't exactly an embarrassing thought – it was more like she didn't know what to do with herself whenever she thought about it. Her main concern, however, what deciding whether or not to act on her feelings. She knew that if she did, something would change between her and Karma forever – and she wasn't sure if she was ready for that, despite the way her heart flipped whenever she caught a glimpse of his flaming red hair.

Which brought up another issue: she still had to interact with the guy while all of these thoughts were racing through her head, and Karma definitely noticed that something was off. However, he kept his distance, thinking that he had done something wrong to make her act so awkward around him. He backed off, because the last thing he wanted to do was push her away even more.

Unfortunately, this made their problem even worse. Their flirting had reverted back into banter, and even though they tried to keep it light, there was always something tense between them. They both hated it, but neither knew what to do about it.

It wasn't long before one of them finally snapped.

They were doing experiments as per usual, but on that particular afternoon Manami suddenly noticed as she passed Karma a beaker that he was intentionally avoiding touching her.

For some reason – call it stress, hormones, whatever – this was the last straw for her.

As soon as they finished the experiment and put everything away, Manami rounded on her redheaded friend.

"Karma, I-I think it's time we talked."

He raised an eyebrow. "Hm? But we talk every day," he said with a smirk.

She glared at him though her glasses. "You know what I mean."

Karma opened his mouth to tease her, then saw the look in her eyes. He sighed and leaned against a table. "All right then. Let's talk."

"Why are you afraid of touching me?" asked Manami immediately. Karma started.

"What?"

"I noticed it just now when we were working. You avoided touching me – at all." She walked over and stood next to him. "Why?"

Karma ducked his head in shame. He had more or less been expecting this.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"It's ok," answered Manami immediately, "just tell me why-"

"No, I mean _I'm sorry_."

The girl paused. "For… what, exactly?"

The boy turned toward her in surprise. "I thought… I thought I did something wrong that afternoon," he said. "You were acting weird afterwards – wasn't it because of me?"

"Um, well…" Technically it was true, but not in the sense that Karma thought. Manami just didn't know if she had the nerve to explain it to him right then and there. Luckily for her, Karma continued.

"I've been backing off because I didn't want to push you away," he muttered, looking down at the ground. The girl blinked in surprise.

"What? Karma, it's ok! I'm not upset with you!" She went to stand in front of him and lifted his chin so that they were eye-to-eye.

"You didn't do anything wrong." she said decisively. "I was just a little surprised, that's all."

Karma considered that – or, at least he tried to. Manami's eyes were very distracting, and he was finding it difficult to come up with a reason why he shouldn't tell her that. It was then that he realized something.

"Does this mean we can go back to flirting?" he asked, smirking.

Manami's eyes widened, and she stepped back a bit. "F-flirting?"

Karma couldn't help but grin a little at her reaction. "What do you think we were doing that afternoon?" he asked.

It took a second for Manami to let that sink in. It took another for her to realize that she had, in fact, been flirting with Karma for a while even before then.

"Oh…" she said softly. Karma laughed despite himself.

"But… um… don't people only flirt when they… _like_ each other?" the girl asked.

Karma stopped short.

"And you flirted back…" she whispered, talking more to herself than Karma. The poor boy's heart nearly ceased in its function; he was sure she was mere moments away from figuring it out.

"…but then you stopped," Manami continued. She looked up at Karma, confused. "So wait, why did you... It doesn't make sense!" He could see that she was starting to get frustrated, but his heart was beating too fast for him to do anything about it. After a few more seconds of trying to some to a sensible conclusion, she finally blurted out that fateful question:

"Karma, do you like me?"

For the redheaded devil, it was like the world had just frozen. As he looked at the science nerd before him, everything else seemed to fall away until the answer was the only thing on his mind.

As for the poison witch, as soon as the words were out of her mouth her eyes widened.

"I-I mean, uh… y-you don't have to answer that!" she squeaked out. "I, um… let's talk about s-something else!

Karma, however, was having none of it. He was finally sure of what he wanted, and God help anything that got in his way. He closed whatever distance there was between him and Manami, until he could feel the pounding of her heart. He smirked.

" _Yes_ ," he whispered in answer to her question, low and soft against her ear.

Manami, practically petrified, felt a chill go down her spine – despite the blazing fire in her cheeks.

"W-what?" she whispered. Her heart was beating so fast she couldn't think straight. All she was aware of was Karma and how close he was, and how one of his hands was cupping her neck while the other was taking off her glasses.

He answered her question by kissing her. It was soft at first; both were slightly hesitant despite themselves. Then instinct took over, and Karma started to push harder. When he did, Manami felt like she had been shocked awake. Four thoughts then went through her mind, one after the other as quick as light-speed:

 _He likes me._

 _I like him._

 _He's kissing me._

 _…_

 _I should kiss back._

And so she did. Karma was only slightly surprised when she began to push against him, snaking her arms around his neck and tangling her fingers in his hair. He certainly wasn't complaining about it.

They parted for air once. After that, the teachings of one Bitch-sensei slowly came back to them, and soon both of them were gasping with faces as red as Karma's hair.

Neither one was sure how long the kiss had gone on for, but neither really cared.

They were happy.


End file.
